Spicy Pear Butter

We recently brought home a nice bunch of very ripe bartlett pears from a friend’s yard. There were too many, and they were too ripe to be eaten in a day, so I made some into my Spicy Pear Butter.

I’ve made pear butter before, but with sweeter spices like cardamom and vanilla, which make the butter a bit too sweet for my taste. Ripe pears tend to be so sweet to begin with, they don’t need as much sugar as you would put in apple butter. With warmer spices like ginger, cloves, and a good amount of lime zest, you can balance out the sweetness of the pear and add a great zing.

My method:
1. Cook the pears and all the ingredients in a sauce pan over medium heat.
2. Stir and let the mixture simmer until the pears are really soft and the mixture looks nice and thick.
3. Have a taste, adjust any sugar or spice to your taste. Cook some more if you add sugar.
4. Puree everything down with a blender.
6. Let the mixture cool, then jar and refrigerate. This spicy pear butter should last about 1-2 weeks but it’s best eaten fresh. It never lasts more than a week in our house, anyway!